Our destination for first full day of the tour was the Maipo Valley – and more specifically the Alto Maipo. An hour south of Santiago we arrived at the beautiful Haras de Pirque estate. The owner combines his love of horses with his passion for wine and in 1999 he established a 150 hectare vineyard and a thoroughbred horse breeders. The winery is built in a horseshoe design and gravity fed – so the grapes start at the top and work their way down to the cellar at the bottom – thus negating the need for pumping and minimising the movement and contact with the grapes and resultant wine.
Having toured the impressive building we settled down to an amazing tasting of three wines – all from the Maipo Valley:
Albaclara 2014 Sauvignon Blanc – was incredibly fresh and full of vibrant fruit.
Haras Character 2009 – this was a blend of 60% Cab Sauv, 15% Carmenere, 15% Cab Franc and 10% Syrah and was simply stunning. Wonderful harmony of fruit, oak, tannin and acidity with great length.
Albis 2006 – this is a joint venture with the famous Antinori estate and was quite amazing! 72% Cab Sauv and 28% Carmenere this was a blockbuster of a wine yet retained great elegance.
We then moved on for a delightful organic lunch at the Fodacion restaurant in the town of Pirque set in a beautiful conservatory before heading off for our final visit at Vina Perez Cruz – a further 45 minutes south but also in the Maipo Valley.
This is a stunning pine clad winery nestling in the foothills of the Andes and has a stellar reputation for top class reds.
After a quick review of the vineyards we commenced our tasting with chief winemaker German Lyon. Over the next hour we received an absolute masterclass in terroir and top class winemaking.
Tasting mainly through 2013 vintages the outstanding characteristic was a wonderful freshness and vitality that permeated through all the wines.
Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Cot (traditional name for Malbec), and Carmenere were all tasted as single varietals and we concluded with their Liguai 2012 – a fabulous blend of Syrah, Cab Sauv and Carmenere.
This is a superb winery making top class wines.
To round off the day a group of us also managed to extend our learning at Bocanariz – a wonderful wine bar in the Lastarria district of Santiago.